Counterterrorism czar Richard “Clarke presented the incoming Bush team with an aggressive plan to attack al Qaeda [at a meeting on January 3, 2001]. …Bush administration officials have denied being given a formal plan to take action against al Qaeda. …Most significantly of all, Clarke called for covert operations ‘to eliminate sanctuary’ in Afghanistan where the Taliban was protecting bin Laden and his terrorist training camps.”
– Craig Unger, House of Bush, House of Saud, Pages 220-221